The Apprentices
by TheMasterOfFanfic555
Summary: What if the crew each had to mentor an apprentice? And not just any apprentice, but...a teenage apprentice! This should be interesting... I'm aiming for a multiple-chapter story, not a one-shot. This is my first fanfic. Read and review, please! Constructive criticism both welcome and appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

It had been a long day. Admiral Christopher Pike put his head in his hands and gave a quick sigh as he pushed aside the mountain of PADDs cluttering up his desk. Unfortunately, he also knocked over his perilously balanced cup of cold coffee. "Shit," the admiral swore, bending down to pick up the smashed porcelain. A young, pretty yeoman entered the room as soon as she heard the curse. She quickly stepped back out again, on the pretext of fetching a mop to clean up the spilled drink. Or it could've been the unnerving sight of her superior officer's furious face. Chris felt bad. The poor girl probably had enough to do already, without having to clean up his mess on top of it all.

A message flashed up on the screen of his PADD at the very bottom of the stack. For the second time that morning, Chris sighed. He reflected on how many grey hairs this job was giving him. Being admiral was a job much more demanding and stressful than being captain. But that role had gone to Kirk when the Narada incident was over and done with. And Chris thought the kid was doing a damn good job of it. The weary admiral tried, and failed, to scrabble to the bottom of the pile while upsetting the smallest amount of PADDs he could.

The yeoman heard the loud crash just as she entered the office, mop in hand. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of Admiral Pike buried under a pile of PADDs. Not for the first time that day, she sighed. "Sir?" she called out, cautiously approaching the pile.

"I'm fine, Yeoman," said Christopher, but he held out his hand anyway, for her to help him up.

Jim Kirk leaned on the edge of the bar, next to a cute girl wearing a sexy purple midriff that showed plenty of cleavage as she slumped forward to sip on her cocktail. Her wild brunette curls were fluffed out around her face. She wore smoky eye-shadow. Kirk grew dizzy just looking at her. Or that could've been her overpowering floral perfume. Jim didn't care.

Leonard McCoy turned away with a muttered, " _Dammit_." Once Jim got that look on his face, Leonard knew it was going to be a long night. He took a seat at the bar and ordered a mint julep.

Once in the comfort of his own quarters, Christopher Pike was safe to look at his previously received message in peace.

[Stardate 2388.80, 2101 FST. Message from **Admiral James Komack** , Starfleet, _San Francisco_ ]

 _Chris,_

 _Was wondering if you could help me put a plan into action. See, the higher-up officials in the Academy have decided that every one of the essential main crew on board the Enterprise should each mentor a young_ _apprentice. By 'main crew' I mean First Officer Spock, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, and Ensign Pavel Chekov. You may be wondering about Captain James T. Kirk and whether or not he's going to mentor an apprentice as well. My answer to that is: No, he will not. The Academy board have decided that, as the captain, James should have an opportunity to equally mentor all the apprentices in turn, instead of lavishing all his attention on only one teenager._

Chris felt his eyes go wide. Teenagers? The apprentices were going to be _teenagers_? He wondered how well _that_ was going to work out. A bizarre, yet hilarious vision entered his mind. It was of Spock, patiently attempting to explain a complicated scientific theorem to a gum-popping, bored-looking teen wearing way too much makeup. Surely Komack was joking? He read on:

 _And yes, Chris, I did say 'teenager'. Now I do understand that you may feel slightly opposed to this notion -_

 _No shit_ , thought Pike.

 _-But the apprentices aren't_ too _young. All of them are about 14 – 15 years old. It'll be a learning experience for all involved. The apprentices are students who are all top of their respective classes at the Academy. And to be in Starfleet at such a young age, they have already proven their worth. Each apprentice has an individual forte, which will be taken into consideration, along with their academic scores, when pairing them with their mentors. Attached are the profiles of these brilliant young men and women. I have also sent this email to Captain Kirk. We'll hold a meeting, just you, me, Kirk, and his crew. We'll see what they think about all this. In the meantime, please read up on those profiles._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Admiral James Komack,_

 _Starfleet Academy Board_

 _Starfleet, San Francisco, America_

James T. Kirk stared down at the flushed face of the beautiful brunette beneath him. Her curls were splayed out on the bed sheets surrounding her, and she was now stripped down to nothing but a sexy, purple lacy lingerie set that exactly matched the purple midriff she had worn earlier. Jim had long since managed to get her out of said garment, however, and the midriff now lay discarded on the bedroom floor, among Jim's shirt and pants.

Jim leaned down, brushing his lips gently along the insides of her thighs. The brunette girl moaned softly with pleasure as the kisses trailed further upward, eventually ending just below her jawline. Jim leaned in, preparing for the pièce de résistance: a full-on French kiss that'd leave her hungry for more. He'd heard from a friend that chicks liked foreign guys. He knew this was probably _no_ _t_ what his friend had meant at the time, but he didn't care. French kissing was plenty foreign enough. And besides, he had neighbours on either side of his (small) apartment in downtown San Francisco that he'd rented for when he had to stay on Earth for extended periods of time between missions. He didn't want to make too much noise.

But before he could do anything, the PADD nestled in the pile of clothes on the floor beeped as a message came onto the flashing screen. All thoughts of the beautiful brunette lay forgotten along with the bed they'd just made love in. Jim performed an abrupt push-up as he scrambled out of bed. The cute girl gasped in disgust as she was pushed to one side. Kirk knew something was going on that Starfleet wasn't telling him about. This was mainly because Chris had seemed on edge towards the end of the day, but he was keeping uncharacteristically quiet. And Jim _really_ didn't like being left out of things.

He had been on red alert (in the metaphorical sense, of course) all day, keeping a close eye and ear out for any whispered conversations he had not been invited to bear witness to. Also any messages on his PADD that he might have been sent. And finally, Jim thought, his patience had paid off. Spock would be proud. Well, not really, because that would mean showing emotion. But still. He plucked his PADD from the pile of discarded clothes and read:

 _Hi Jim,_

 _Was wondering if you could help me put a plan into action…_

Chris Pike opened the attached profiles and raised his eyebrows. Komack wasn't kidding. These were some _seriously_ smart kids.

Jim read the first profile, moving his lips silently with each word.

"Elizabeth Houston. Top of her class in Sciences at the Academy. Hmmm. Still in her first year at Starfleet though. Oh. Wait. Yeah. They all are. Ummmm….Oh, here's her medical file. I'll pass it on to Bones. Well shit. That's _amazing._ Spock's gonna want to see this. Her astrophysics scores are _incredible_! That's probably why Admiral Komack wanted to pair her up with Spock."

Kirk wondered what the Vulcan first officer would have to say about being accompanied to work each day by a moody teenager. The more he thought about it, the funnier it became.

Pike browsed the next attachment.

"Laura Kerrel. Wow. McCoy's gonna love this. Not that he'd ever admit it, though. Her Biology and Anatomical Studies marks are off the charts! 100% in every one of her exams and assignments so far! Amazing. Here's her medical file...I'll send that to McCoy."

Kirk ran his gaze over Uhura's apprentice's profile.

"Melanie Williams. Well, she seems okay. Guess I'll find out when I meet her. She's _amazing_ at Linguistics and Xenomorphology. Wait till I show Uhura. I know she'll be grateful for the company. Being the only gal in the essential bridge crew and all that. Well, she's got me. And Spock. But I know she secretly has a thing for me. It's obvious."

Chris took a sip from his third cup of coffee that evening and continued to read.

"Edward Millers. Wow. He's achieved incredible scores in Engineering. Where's his medical file? Oh, there. Okay then. Send that to McCoy as well."

Jim read the next profile.

"Thomas Draker. An _excellent_ helmsman. Oh man, Sulu's gonna love this. I mean, he already gets on really well with Chekov, and Chekov's about the same age as Thomas. Medical file? Send that to Bones."

Pike took a look at the last profile.

"Russell Parker. A fantastic navigator. You can tell by his academic scores. Oh! He helps his father, who's a deep-sea fisherman, navigate his way around the Pacific Ocean. Very impressive. And Russell's about Chekov's age, too. Just a little bit younger, though. Still, I know Pavel will appreciate the company. And I'll send Russell's medical file to McCoy."

Leonard McCoy opened one eye and groaned. A glance at his clock's glowing numbers told him it was a bit after one o' clock in the morning. Years of drinking a _little_ too much after the divorce had earned him a higher tolerance to alcohol than most, and yet a dull, throbbing ache had still taken up residence in the back of his skull. As the doctor struggled to pinpoint exactly what had woken him, his PADD beeped again. And again. Six times in a row, actually. Yet _seven_ messages had landed themselves in his inbox. Leonard realised that _that_ was what had roused him from a restless slumber. Rain pattered softly on the roof in a way that calmed McCoy, but did nothing for his headache. Swinging his legs round to the edge of the bed, he willed his stomach to settle down. It worked, and, after a moment, once satisfied he was _not_ going to throw up, he reached for his PADD and opened his messages. Leonard's brow furrowed as he checked his inbox. Then he scowled. Then Leonard reached for his communicator and growled into it in what he _hoped_ was a menacing, and not at all groggy, voice:

"Jim, _what the hell is this shit…_?!"


	2. Chapter 2

"I have called you all here today to make an important announcement," said Admiral Komack, glancing at the faces around the table before him. They were in one of the many Starfleet meeting rooms. Nine pairs of eyes stared back at him, some curious, some knowing. Leonard McCoy was the only exception. The only mood _he_ conveyed was 'mega-pissed-off-also-hungover-and-sleep-deprived-and-about-to-murder-somebody-if-I-don't-drink-at-least-five-cups-of-coffee-right-now'. Everyone had picked up on this, and were doing their level best to not provoke the doctor any further.

"So I'm just going to come out and say it," Komack continued. "Each of you are going to mentor a teenage apprentice." 

The reactions around the room ranged from shocked, to surprised, to delighted, to 'mega-pissed-off-also-hungover-and-sleep-deprived-and-about-to-murder-somebody-if-I-don't-drink-at-least-five-cups-of-coffee-right-now'. No prizes for guessing who _that_ last one was from.

"Is that why I kept getting sent all those medical records?!" growled Dr. McCoy.

Jim nodded and took another bite of an apple he'd apparently plucked out of thin air.

Leonard, on the other hand, looked as though he wanted to strangle the young captain. "You woke me up! I was hungover _and_ looking forward to getting a full night's sleep for _once_!"

Jim shrugged and continued to crunch the seemingly ubiquitous apple. "That's how you _know_ you're getting old," he smirked. "When your only form of entertainment involves getting a 'full night's -"

McCoy whacked Jim on the shoulder with the data PADD in front of him. Kirk punched the doctor in the stomach.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," chided Admiral Pike. Bones and Jim stopped immediately, even having the good grace to look abashed. 

"As I was saying," Komack went on, "You will each have the opportunity to mentor a teenage apprentice. Each of these teenagers excel in a certain field of work similar to your own. We have used their academic scores to gain a better understanding of which of you to pair them with as a mentor."

Excited murmuring filled the room until Chris cleared his throat. Everyone fell silent immediately.

"You'll all be introduced to your apprentices on Wednesday morning. You will spend the whole day with them in an attempt to get to know them better. You could go see a movie, show them round the _Enterprise_ , take them out for lunch, anything. Just be sure to have them back at the Academy in this very same room by 1800 hours to attend a briefing. An email will be sent to all of you which will include further details about the mentoring program."

Admiral Komack spoke up again. "Wednesday's not tomorrow, but the next day. I trust that Dr. McCoy will send you all the medical records of each of your respective apprentices. The last thing you want is to take your apprentice out for lunch on Wednesday and have them experience an allergic reaction to their meal."

"Pretty sure the apprentices are old enough to know what they can and can't eat," said Pike, glancing at Komack. "But still, it wouldn't hurt to acquaint yourselves with any medical conditions your apprentice may suffer from."

"Good point," agreed McCoy. "You can never be too careful. Take Jim, for instance." 

Everyone was silent as they remembered Jim's reaction to a simple peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich he'd consumed earlier the week before. Now _that_ was an image nobody was going to be forgetting anytime soon.

"Anyway," said Chris, breaking the thoughtful silence. "Read up on those apprentices of yours. And start coming up with some ideas of what you're going to do on Wednesday." He glanced at Komack, and both admirals simultaneously rose and saluted the rest of the room. The crew stood and sharply saluted their superior officers. Pike looked back over his shoulder.

"Dismissed." 

Scotty left the room with the rest of the crew. On his way to Engineering, he wondered exactly _what the hell_ he was going to do on Wednesday. Take his apprentice to a movie? Oh hell no. That'd seem like a date or something, wouldn't it? Then everyone would think of him as a pervert! It would be even worse if he had to mentor a girl. Scotty sincerely hoped he'd have a male apprentice, as that would make conversations a _lot_ less awkward. 

Chekov left the briefing room with Sulu, dancing a little with joy. Sulu glanced over at his young friend. "You seem excited," he commented.

"I cannot help eet, Heekaru," the young Russian bubbled. "Vhat should I do on Vednesday?"

"Movie?" suggested Hikaru. That seemed like the easiest option.

"Yes, vell, everyone vill be doing zhat," sighed Chekov.

"Well, then, go with that option. Seems like your best bet," Sulu shrugged as they turned into another corridor.

"Yes, zhat seems like a good idea," agreed Chekov, but his thoughts ventured towards a day of minigolf or perhaps even a theme park. 

Uhura was in her quarters, trying to rest, as she had a night shift coming up soon. But she found she just couldn't sleep. Her head was buzzing as she processed the meeting. Eventually, Uhura gave up on the idea of sleep, got a hot chocolate from the replicator, opened up her apprentice's medical file on her PADD (McCoy had stayed true to his word), and began to brainstorm ideas for Wednesday. 

Kirk was humming and snapping his fingers as he walked. But the young captain's chipper mood had no effect on McCoy, other than to annoy the hell out of the doctor. Jim was halfway through his third rendition of 'Walking On Sunshine' before McCoy snapped.

"Shut the hell up! My headache's bad enough already without your idiotic humming and insanely good mood making it even worse!"

Kirk looked like a kicked puppy. For about a second or two. Then he perked up again.

"Fine then. Wow, you're like a male version of Wednesday Addams. Are you on your period or something?"

McCoy punched Kirk in the stomach.

From his position on the floor, Kirk managed to gasp, "Yup. Definitely on his period."

A well-aimed kick from the irate Southerner soon shut the blonde up for a while. 

Spock paced purposefully down the corridors to the turbolift. Once inside the lift, he allowed himself to ponder the meeting that had just taken place. A chime from the door signalled that the turbolift had reached its destination. Spock stepped out and turned sharply on his heel down the corridor. Once inside his quarters, Spock sat down cross-legged on a flat cushion, lit some scented candles, and relaxed. Some meditative Vulcan music soon soothed him. Spock turned his thoughts towards what he was going to do on Wednesday to acquaint himself with his apprentice. 

"Bones. Bones. _Boooooonnnnneesssss_. Bonesey."

"Don't you dare call me that."

"Sorry, Bonesey. Didn't mean to, Bonesey."

A glare from McCoy.

"So have you figured out what you're doing on Wednesday yet?" Jim leapt onto the couch, drawing his knees up to his chest in one smooth movement.

"No. I'll probably just show her around Medbay."

Jim stuck out his bottom lip. " _Booorrring_."

"Well, I'm not here to entertain her. I'm here to expand her knowledge of medicine and anatomical sciences."

Jim sat up, a sly look in his eyes. "Now you sound like Spock."

McCoy sighed. "It's almost like you're _asking_ for me to hypo your neck."

Jim hurriedly moved two seats away from his friend. The sight out of the Observation Deck's vast windows momentarily distracted him from his hasty escape.

"Look at that, Bones. We get to explore all that, _and more_."

McCoy stared at the swirling nebula. "I guess it looks pretty. And it's safe. From where we're sitting, anyway."

"I want to go out there, Bones. I want to keep exploring _forever_. Some of the things we've seen so far have been _amazing_ , and we're not even halfway into our five-year mission yet."

McCoy sighed inwardly. Jim was in one of his philosophical moods again. Then another thought occurred to him. "Jim, why'd ya change the subject? What's going on?"

Jim said nothing.

"You're not jealous, are you? That everyone except you has an apprentice?"

Jim stayed silent, but looked away.

"Oh wow, you _are_ jealous! Look, if it's any consolation, at least you don't have to hang out with a moody teenager, all day, every day. You get to just float around and talk to any of them, whenever you want, or not at all. I'm stuck with one all the time, whether I like it or not."

Jim seemed comforted, but not much.

"But what am I gonna _do_ on Wednesday?"

"Whatever you want."

"But I'll be all alone! And that's _boooorringgg_..."

"Jim, need I remind you that you're a grown man now? Even if you don't ever act like it. So you're going to be alone for one day. Deal with it."

Jim huffed and folded his arms.

"But we'll still get Chinese takeaway on Wednesday _night_ , right?"

('Chinese takeaway' was their code for 'go out and get hideously drunk before watching reruns of _Happy Days_ until midnight'.)

"Sure, I could do with some Chinese takeaway."

Jim fell backwards off the sofa, overjoyed.

"Bones?"

"Hmmm, kid?"

"Do you think this whole 'mentoring program' thing will be a success?"

"Don't know, Jim. Guess we'll find out soon enough, though."


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note:_

 _Okay, so I just remembered that I can, in fact, put up an author's note. So here goes: I don't own Star Trek (or Frozen. You'll find out what I mean by that later on in this chapter.) I'm just borrowing these characters for use in my fanfic because it's a Star Trek fanfic. Therefore it'd be pretty weird if I_ didn't _use Star Trek characters. I'm not profiting from this story at all. It's all just for fun._

"Oh crap, it's Wednesday," was more or less the one thought that occupied all of the crewmembers' minds when they woke up that day. Except Spock, of course. But even then, he still found himself unable to bring to mind any reason to think pleasantly of what was to come.

Nyota Uhura bounced out of bed, fixing her long, dark hair into a hasty yet neat ponytail. She took a quick shower, and decided to forgo breakfast, instead opting for a cup of tea. Throwing together an outfit, Uhura was careful to not mess up her hairstyle (really, she thought, she should have done her hair _after_ getting dressed.) She allowed herself a small squeal of excitement at the thought of meeting her new apprentice. Then, grabbing her handbag, she raced to the transporter room, ready to meet the other crewmembers to beam down to Starfleet Headquarters together.

Spock completed his morning routine as efficiently as usual. Glancing at the display on his PADD, he realised that he was, in fact ahead of schedule to be meeting the others in the transporter room.

He decided to arrive early anyway.

Pavel Chekov poked the arm of the sleeping man before him. Nothing happened. Chekov frowned and prodded harder. Sulu's eyes snapped open just in time to see the young Russian's fingers reaching forward to prise open his eyelid. Sulu shrieked and pulled the covers back over his head.

"Heekaru," pleaded Chekov. "Please vake up. Ve vill be _late._ "

"Late for _what_?" groaned Sulu.

"Late to meet the others in zee transporter room!" reminded an exasperated Chekov. The Russian was already dressed for the day and had also packed a small bag.

"Okay, okay, I'll go get ready." Sulu staggered out of bed and into the bathroom. Chekov bounced up and down on the spot for a while, the gave up and started playing games on Sulu's PADD.

Scotty flopped over in his bed again. He'd been trying to find a comfortable position for hours now. Usually, he was out like a light after 10:30pm, but he'd pretty much had a sleepless night. Scotty had managed to snatch a couple of hours sometime during the night, he wasn't exactly sure when. He rolled out of bed and onto the floor with a muffled _thump_ , telling himself that he'd wake up properly after a shower and a cup of tea. This turned out to be true, and, after packing a backpack for the day ahead, Scotty stumbled out the door of his quarters, on his way to the transporter room.

"Bones. Boooonnnnneesssssss."

Jim cautiously stepped forward into the darkened room, taking care to avoid the dirty clothes strewn around at random. He shook his friend's shoulder roughly.

McCoy continued snoring.

Jim sighed. He'd been calling Bones for over 10 minutes now.

"Fine then. If you aren't gonna wake up, then I'll have to resort to more drastic measures."

Jim inserted a pair of earphones into his friend's ears, backing off immediately when McCoy stared to stir. But the doctor soon settled back down again, so Jim connected the earphones to his PADD, turned the volume up all the way, and waited.

 _Sun, sand, and sea surrounded McCoy. This was one shore leave he didn't mind at all. In fact, he never wanted to go back to work ever again now that he knew places like these existed. A beautiful woman in a hula skirt and a coconut bra appeared out of thin air, and smiled at McCoy. She was carrying a bottle of expensive tequila. She opened her mouth and said -_

"Do you wanna build a snowman? Come on, let's go and play..."

"Arrghh!" McCoy screamed, clawing wildly at his ears. He was definitely awake now, and _extremely_ pissed off. "Not _Frozen_! _Anything_ but _Frozen_!"

The song immediately changed to 'Shake It Off' by Taylor Swift.

"Jim! Why do you even _own_ this kind of shitty music?!"

Jim looked hurt. "You weren't waking up! I warned you. I _said_ I'd have to resort to drastic measures."

McCoy stared at his friend, lost for words. He eventually settled for punching Jim on the arm.

"Ow! Look, I'm doing you a favour here!"

"Really? 'Cause _I'm_ sure as hell not seeing any favours being done here."

"I came to wake you up! Everyone's already at the transporter room. We're all waiting on you."

"Shit."

Jim sat back and watched as McCoy turned into a human whirlwind, downing five cups of coffee one after the other as though they were shots of vodka, sniffing clothes on the floor to see how fresh they were, and brushing his teeth while simultaneously tugging a pair of pants on.

"Bones."

"What _now_?"

"Shower."

McCoy swore heartily, kicking the wall beside him on his way to the bathroom. He was in and out of the shower in less than two minutes, though, and was soon dressed again in the clothes he'd had on before. The doctor threw together a bag for the day and walked with Jim to the transporter room.

The _Enterprise_ crewmembers arrived at Starfleet Headquarters, chattering excitedly. It was hard to tell exactly who was talking the loudest. Except for Spock and McCoy, of course. McCoy was too sleep deprived, and Spock was, well….Spock. He didn't really _get_ excited. A female secretary greeted the crew in the HQ lobby.

"You're the _Enterprise_ crew, right?" She caught sight of Jim. "Of course you're the _Enterprise_ crew. Welcome. I'm Veronica. Take a seat, please. Admiral Pike has been expecting you. He will see you in his office shortly."

She smiled at the crew and returned to her position behind the vast reception desk.

Everyone sank gratefully into the plush, steel-grey couches arranged artfully around the lobby. Sunlight filtered through the sparkling glass walls, projecting tiny rainbows all around the room. Nobody spoke, but the silence wasn't an awkward one. After a few minutes, the secretary returned again, her stiletto heels clicking sharply on the marble floor, the only sound in the otherwise silent lobby.

"Admiral Pike will see you now."

The crew filed silently into Pike's spacious office. Besides the admiral, there were six nervous-looking teenagers in civilian clothing standing ramrod straight, shoulder-to-shoulder, facing Pike's desk. Uhura inhaled sharply with excitement.

These were the apprentices.

Pike spoke first. "These are your apprentices. Apprentices, this is the crew of the _Enterprise._ Otherwise known as your mentors."

Some of the apprentices smiled shyly. A few of the bolder ones dared to wave. The crew nodded and smiled back.

"Cadets -" here, Pike was referring to the apprentices - "As you already know, you'll be spending the day with your mentor. Think of it as a bonding experience. I'll pair you off with each other now. Once you know who your mentor is, you're free to go with them to whatever activity they have planned for today. There will be time for introductions as soon as you're in the company of your mentor. Meet back here at 1800 hours. Alright, here goes."

Now _everyone_ looked nervous.

"Elizabeth Houston, you're with First Officer Spock. He's over there."

A thin, pretty blond girl stepped forward. She wore way too much makeup, and her nails were perfectly manicured. She wore a flimsy pink designer singlet and a pair of ripped denim shorts that showed off a little too much skin. Spock raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth was loudly chewing a piece of gum. Spock was completely fine with humans' sometimes illogical desire to chew gum. However, it was a pet hate of his when people chewed gum with their mouths open. Spock glanced at the others. They seemed slightly irritated, but kept quiet. Spock bit his lip and stayed silent as well. It would not do at all to make a bad impression on his apprentice within minutes of first meeting her. And it was also quite illogical to judge someone's entire personality based on only one of their bad habits. Spock inclined his head towards the door of Admiral Pike's office.

"Miss Houston, please follow me, and I will inform you as to what activities I have planned for today."

"Elizabeth."

"I beg your pardon, Miss Hou -"

"Call me Elizabeth," she interrupted.

"Very well, Miss – Elizabeth."

The teenager followed Spock out the door.

"Okay then," announced Pike. "Laura Kerrel, you're with Dr. Leonard McCoy."

McCoy waved to let Laura know where he was. But he didn't need to. A short, dark-haired girl with pale skin and piercing blue eyes had separated herself from the rest of the apprentices, and was approaching McCoy.

"Hi," was all she said. Laura had a very noticeable English accent. She wore a galaxy-print, oversized hoodie and black skinny jeans. Her blue nail polish was chipped, and she wore no makeup, yet she was still quite pretty. Old purple high-tops covered her feet. The chain of a pocket watch glinted from her jeans pocket. McCoy frowned slightly. A pocket watch? That kind of 'technology' had been around since the early 15th century. Very old-fashioned. Suddenly, he thought that maybe he _might_ just be able to put up with the idea of having to mentor a teenager.

"Hi," returned McCoy. "So I was thinking that today I'd take you on a tour around Medbay?"

Laura didn't look disappointed, as McCoy had expected. She shrugged, her eyes glinting with excitement. "Sure, sounds cool."

They disappeared out the door.

"Next up is Melanie Williams," said Chris. "Melanie, you're going to be with Lieutenant Nyota Uhura."

Uhura gave an enthusiastic wave. Melanie grinned and walked over to her new mentor. She had short blonde hair that fell down to a little below her jawline. She was of medium height and weight. She wore a bit of makeup, but nowhere _near_ as much as Elizabeth had on. A simple, yet pretty floral dress ended just above her knees.

Pike thought that it looked like these two were really going to get along. Uhura and Melanie exited the room, chattering happily about the plans for that day. Chris smiled as he watched them go.

"Alright," Pike spoke up. "Edward Millers? You're with Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott."

Edward walked over to Scotty, who was giving him a tentative wave.

"Hi," Edward greeted the engineer.

"Hello there," said Scotty. He glanced at Edward. The teenager had brown hair, cut short, and wore a bright green watch on his wrist. A black backpack hung from one of his shoulders. He wore jeans and a simple grey t-shirt. Scotty cleared his throat. "So, I was thinking I'd show you around Engineering, then we'd go to a shop I know that does brilliant sandwiches. Or we could go see a movie." Did that sound too weird? Scotty wasn't sure. "So does that sound okay to you?" he asked.

"Sounds awesome," replied Edward, eagerly, and followed his mentor out of the office.

Pike called the next apprentice forward. "Thomas Draker, you're with Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu."

There was only Sulu and Chekov left out of the bridge crew to be given apprentices. Sulu waved at Thomas, who who went over to his new mentor.

"Hello, Lieutenant Sulu," greeted Thomas. The young apprentice wore jeans and a bright red jacket. His hands were stuffed deep into the pockets. On his feet, he wore matching red sneakers. The bright colours were in stark contrast to his flawless, dark brown skin. His large, dark eyes were kind and reassuring.

Sulu and Chekov looked at each other.

"Please, just call me Hikaru when we're off-duty," offered Sulu. "And right now, we happen to be off-duty."

"Sure. Sorry about that."

"No problem. So I was thinking that today we could…." Sulu's voice faded away as he led his apprentice out the door.

"Okay, so that just leaves Russell Parker," said Pike. "Russell, you're with Ensign Pavel Chekov."

"Hello, Russell," smiled Chekov. Russell grinned. The young Russian didn't even try to contain his enthusiasm. Russell liked that.

"Hi, Ensign Chekov," the teenager replied.

"Remember vhat Heekaru said," reminded Chekov. "You can call me Pavel vhen vhe're off-duty."

"Okay, Pavel it is then," agreed Russell.

Chekov stared at Russell. A t-shirt and jeans appeared to be the standard choice of clothing for all the boys that day. It seemed like only the girls had put any effort into picking their outfits. Except for Laura, of course. She seemed to have just thrown on whatever she'd found on her bedroom floor when she woke up that morning. Russell wore a pair of faded blue jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt. He had pale skin covered with freckles, and messy, light brown hair.

"So," said Russell. "What are we gonna do today, then?"

"Russell," asked Chekov, "Do you like theme parks?"

"Do I ever," responded the teenager.

Apprentice and mentor each wore the exact same expression of childlike joy on their faces as they raced each other out the door.

Only Jim and Pike were left.

"Look, son, don't worry about it," comforted Pike. "This way, you'll get to mentor every single one of these kids whenever you want. You won't be stuck with just one."

"That's exactly what Bones said," Jim sighed mournfully. "It doesn't make things any better."

"Pizza?" suggested Pike, which was their code for 'let's go get lunch and talk about it.'

Jim met Pike's eyes and nodded. "Yes sir."

 _Yet Another Author's Note:_

 _Hi guys! So, end of Chapter 3. Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think in those comments below. And if you have any ideas for Chapter 4, don't be shy! I need constructive criticism._

 _After all, this is only my first fanfic._

 _-TMOFF555_


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for not updating regularly, and thanks for staying with the story! Anyway, hope you enjoy this next chapter, and just in case you haven't noticed yet, McCoy is my favourite character. So there will be a lot of him and Laura in this chapter. Like,_ a lot. _I believe there are two types of Trekkies: Those whose favourite character is McCoy, and those whose favourite character is Not-McCoy. So yeah. Enough waffle from me. Enjoy the story! :D_

Laura Kerrel glanced at her pocket watch as she followed Doctor McCoy out of Starfleet Headquarters. She struggled to keep up with the man's impatient strides because of her short legs. Eventually, Laura broke into a run to catch up with McCoy. The doctor looked down as he felt Laura tapping his arm, annoyed.

"Could you please slow down? Not all of us are, like, over 6 feet tall, or whatever you are. Sir," she added as an afterthought.

"Only 6 foot, sorry to disappoint you. And seriously, don't bother with the 'sir' shit. Only when we're on duty." McCoy was impressed. Laura seemed to be one for speaking her mind, and he liked that. At least now he knew she wasn't some mindless lackey. He slowed his pace down to a comfortable trot.

"So you said we were going on a tour of Medbay?" Laura asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, getting to that. Just wanted to get some lunch first. You like pizza?"

"Who _doesn't_?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

They walked past the sleek, modern shops that were crammed into every possible space on the street. A light morning fog hung over the city, and Laura shivered as it swirled around them. She pulled her hoodie up over her head, which helped a bit.

"So, where are you from?" McCoy asked, breaking the silence that had enveloped them before.

"England. But Dad moved away in 2254. And Mum just...well, disappeared after a while. They weren't divorced. I think. Actually, I don't remember them ever being married. But yeah, Dad left when I was 9, I don't know why. And Mum moved out a couple of months afterwards. Because of their ties to Starfleet, some of the admirals there worked something out when they realised I had been left alone. Admiral Pike sorted most of it out, actually. And it was decided that I'd stay at Starfleet Headquarters in London until I was able to pass the entrance exam for the Academy, which I did when I was 10. I was allowed to study any subject I wanted. So I chose Medicine. But then one of my professors heard about the apprenticeship program and recommended me, so I was transferred to San Francisco just a few weeks ago, and I've been living on-campus ever since." A strange look crossed Laura's face. "Wait, why am I even telling you all this? Sorry. England. I come from England. London, to be precise." She pulled her hoodie even further over her face and let her hair fall forward to cover her eyes. McCoy stared at her, then shrugged. He was intrigued, but knew better than to push further. He recognised the signs, and he realised that he wasn't going to get any more information out of Laura, at least not for a while.

They entered a small pizza parlour hidden amongst a cluster of louder, more contemporary restaurants. A small bell that was hanging from the top of the door jingled to announce their arrival. McCoy leaned on the old-fashioned push door and held it open for Laura. She looked at him, confused. "You going in or what?" the doctor grumbled. The young girl's face lit up for a moment with an embarrassed smile, then she entered the shop. They chose a booth by the window at the back of the diner, and waited to have their orders taken. Laura picked up the salt shaker, which was shaped like a starship. "The _Enterprise_!" she exclaimed in delight, turning it over in her fingers.

"That's where we're going." McCoy took the shaker from her and examined it. A waiter came over and took their orders. As he walked away, Laura turned to face the doctor. "Doctor McCoy, if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?"

"Georgia," he answered slowly. He knew where this was going.

"So how come you joined Starfleet?"

McCoy considered lying, then thought better of it. The lie would only come back to bite him later. "Divorce. My ex-wife took the whole house and just about everything else. Left me with nothing. So I joined Starfleet. To get away form it all. I had literally nothing to lose, right?" He chuckled and stared down at the glossy black table separating them. "I hate space. I have no idea why the hell I chose _Starfleet_ , of all places. But hey, it worked out pretty well. Chief Medical Officer of the best ship in the 'fleet ain't bad. And I made a few good friends along the way." McCoy signalled for the waiter again, and ordered a drink this time. He glanced at Laura. "You want anything?"

"Pink lemonade, please," Laura told the waiter, who nodded and disappeared again. Laura peered at her mentor. He was tugging at the cuffs of his khaki jacket, which looked as though it had seen better days. Clearly, his divorce was a sensitive topic for him. She opened her mouth to say something, could think of nothing, then closed her mouth again. Just as she was trying to work up the courage to attempt to comfort McCoy, their pizzas arrived. Laura dug into her extra-cheese pizza as soon as it was put in front of her. She'd skipped breakfast that morning due to nerves about the day ahead. McCoy hadn't touched his pepperoni pizza yet, Laura noticed, and instead, he was paying a lot more attention to the bourbon he'd ordered. They finished lunch in silence. Laura was a very awkward person in general, so lunch for her was filled with a panicked internal monologue about what she could have said or done instead to prevent what had happened. Eventually, McCoy stood up, grabbed his bag, and went to pay. Laura tapped his arm again because she was much too short to reach his shoulder. He glanced down at her. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"Paying for lunch. Or were you planning on us just walking out of the restaurant?"

"No, but I was planning on at least paying for my own pizza. I have money and a job, you know."

"No. Not happening. I'm paying."

Laura sighed, giving in graciously. "Sure, thanks for that."

"No problem."

Once outside, Laura turned to McCoy. "So what are we gonna do now?"

"We're going to board the Enterprise and go on that tour I promised you," replied the doctor, and watched his apprentice as an expression of excitement spread over the girl's face.

"So how are we going to get there? Transporter? Shuttle?"

"Hell no. Not the shuttle." McCoy shuddered. "We'll use a transporter."

They stood in front of the public transporter. With its giant ' _OUT OF ORDER_ ' sign.

"So I'm guessing we're taking a shuttle after all?" asked Laura.

"There doesn't seem to be any at the moment," said McCoy hopefully. "There's likely to be a long wait. We may as well use the transporter."

"Oh look! That shuttle over there lifts off in two minutes."

McCoy glared at the back of Laura's head. The kid actually thought she was helping. "Yeah, well, there's another transporter. Somewhere."

"Yeah, there is. Three kilometres away. It makes logical sense to use a shuttle. You scared of them or something?"

" _No_."

They boarded the shuttle and took their seats. Strapping herself in, Laura glanced at McCoy. Her mentor was covered in sweat and his hands shook noticeably as he did up his seatbelt.

"What's wrong?" questioned Laura.

"Aviophobia," McCoy grunted.

"I knew it! You _are_ scared of shuttles! Never mind, at least you don't get motion sick as well, right?"

McCoy was silent.

"Right?" Laura prompted.

"Yeah, Laura, about that..."

They were the last ones to leave the shuttle, which had dropped them off at Starbase 1, because public shuttles were not permitted to travel to Starfleet spacecraft. Kirk was waiting for them, having been alerted by a string of panicked text messages from McCoy. Laura stepped out of the shuttle, looking traumatised. Her mentor, on the other hand, stumbled off the shuttle and down the steps, his face a pale shade of green. Laura walked straight up to the captain, who was grinning and somehow managing to look concerned at the same time.

"Sir," she greeted him.

"Miss Laura," he responded.

"Captain, were you aware he gets airsick?" Laura poked a thumb over her shoulder. The doctor was able to scowl half-heartedly before racing to the nearest bathroom.

"Yes I did," answered Kirk. "On second thought, perhaps I should maybe have told you."

"Yeah. That would've been nice, sir."

"He was going to take you round Medbay, right?"

"Yeah. Maybe we should cancel that. For today, anyway. I saw how sick he was on the shuttle, and now I'm truly scarred for life."

"Thought you wanted to be a doctor?"

"Of course! But I'd just eaten. I really didn't need to see what I just did then."

Kirk began to walk down a corridor, beckoning to Laura to follow him. "You don't have to worry about cancelling the tour, although Bones will appreciate your concern. Just give him a couple of hours and he should be fine. In the meantime, how about I show you around Starbase 1?"

"Sure, sounds good. Sir."

"Okay then, I'll just let Bones know. Be right back." He entered the bathroom and came out a few minutes later.

"'Bones'"? Asked Laura.

"Just a nickname I gave him when we first met."

"...Okay. Is he all right?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Says he'll come find us in a while. So we've got like two hours. Easy."

"Alright. Where to next, then, Captain?"

"Well, first let me show you some of the ships docked here. Unfortunately, the _Enterprise_ isn't one of them at the moment, she's away on a mission, but not to worry, you'll get to board her when Bones is ready."

Laura's eyes grew wide. Kirk noticed, and said quickly, "Don't worry, you'll be using a transporter this time. I'm not going to force you both on a shuttle for a second time today."

Slightly reassured, Laura let Captain Kirk lead her into a nearby turbolift, excitement already building in her at the thought of seeing what Starbase 1 had to offer.

McCoy finally felt ready to stand up exactly two hours later. He wondered where Jim and Laura had gotten to. Knowing Kirk, he was by now showing the kid around Starbase 1. A quick search on one of the starbase's computers proved his theory to be correct, and McCoy stumbled out of the bathroom and went to find them. Spotting a turbolift, he took it up to the second level of the starbase, where there was easy access to all the docked starships. He found Jim and Laura seated in one of the observation lounges, staring out at the swirling nebulae beyond.

"You ready for that tour now?" he asked, dropping down onto a sofa next to them.

"Doctor McCoy! Yes, sir, I'm ready for the tour. You okay?"

"I'm fine. Let's go. You coming too, Jim?"

"Nah, this is all probably some elaborate plot to get me into Medbay for my monthly checkup. I'm not giving up _that_ easily, Bones."

"Yeah, that's me. Plotting evil ways to make sure you stay healthy."

"You know what _isn't_ healthy? Your weird obsession with hypos."

McCoy punched Kirk, then stopped as an admiral walked past the Observation Deck. As soon as the man was out of sight, however, they resumed fighting, before realising that Laura was watching them. McCoy brushed down his shirt and cleared his throat.

"Right. Okay. The tour. Follow me."

Jim mock-glared at McCoy and stalked off in the opposite direction, muttering something about 'psychopath doctors who enjoy stabbing their patients in the neck _waayyyy_ too much'. McCoy paced down the hallways, occasionally glancing behind him to check if Laura was following. He suddenly remembered what she'd complained about earlier, and he slowed down. His apprentice finally caught up to him and managed to match his pace. They reached an enormous transporter room, and McCoy nodded to the transporter technician. "Hey, Jerry."

"Leo! Great to see you. Beaming to the _Enterprise_ , right?"

"I don't even know how you remembered that, but yes."

"And who's this young lady with you?"

Laura stepped forward and waved. "I'm Laura Kerrel, sir. I'm Doctor McCoy's apprentice."

Jerry warmly shook Laura's hand. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Laura. So how's Doctor McCoy been treating you so far? Not too harshly, I hope." He winked.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "You really think I'm going to dob in my mentor when he's standing right behind me?"

Jerry threw his head back and laughed.

"But seriously, though," Laura continued, "He's been pretty good so far. Bought me pizza. Now I trust him with my life." She was joking, of course, but someday, McCoy hoped, that would be true.

They stepped onto the transporter pads. McCoy nodded once more to Jerry.

"Energise."

They materialised in the _Enterprise_ 's transporter room, which was much smaller than the one at Starbase 1. Another transporter technician was there, whom McCoy also knew by name. "Peter! How are you?"

"Pretty good, Doctor, and you?"

"Good. About to take Laura here on a tour of Medbay."

Peter turned to Laura. "Ah, would you be one of the new apprentices I've heard so much about?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I won't keep you waiting. Enjoy the tour!"

McCoy wove his way expertly through the starship's corridors, Laura close behind him. At last they reached Medbay. McCoy went through the doors first this time. With a pneumatic hiss, they slid open, revealing the busy hive of activity within. Laura stared, open-mouthed in delight, as she took in the scene before her. "It's amazing," she breathed.

"What? Oh. Yeah. State-of-the-art medical facilities, best staff I've ever worked with, too."

A strikingly beautiful young woman with blonde curls piled on top of her head put down her tricorder, brushed down her navy-blue uniform, and approached her boss. "Hello, Doctor." She turned to the galaxy-clad girl beside him, who was nervously scuffing her already-worn-out high tops against the pristine white floor. "And you must be Laura, right, sweetheart? I'm Nurse Chapel."

Laura decided that she liked Nurse Chapel straight away. She wasn't sure if she liked Doctor McCoy yet, however. The display in the _Enterprise_ 's transporter room was all bravado. Laura was usually an extremely good judge of character, but she found McCoy quite hard to read. She thought he seemed nice enough, but she knew he was capable of being moody, tough, and sarcastic when he wanted to be. _Oh well_ , she thought, _only time will tell_. _Hey, that rhymed!_

She was dragged from her thoughts by McCoy, who was proudly showing her all of Medbay's equipment. Laura smiled to herself.

 _Yes, I could definitely get used to this._

 _Author's Note: So what did you think of the latest chapter? The next one will focus a lot more on the rest of the crew and their apprentices. I just got a bit carried away with this one. Let me know what you thought in the comments below. Also, please give me some ideas for the next chapter! Just in case I come down with a case of writer's block. Anyway, thanks for reading, I'll shut up now._


End file.
